Can we take enjoyment too far?

with you
everyone becomes better
my sake cup

^{Making the Sake by Wada Sanzo}

This has been a rough week. Well, life is rough, so I don't mean that as a complaint, just a statement of fact. Lots to do and little time to do it, meaning I was quite rushed. As I always tell people, I could really use some 36 hour days (provided, of course, that I wouldn't age for those extra 12 hours every day 😉).

A small digression here. That reminds me of a goofy TV show I used to watch when I was a kid after school. The main character was half alien. I'm not sure if the backstory was every explained, but her alien dad had fun adult time with a human and then left, leaving her to live with her earth mom. An alien deadbeat dad who bolted? I don't remember. Anyway, she had the power to freeze time for a short duration. In typical sitcom fashion she would get into a mess during the episode and then use her time-freezing power to escape from it. The show was called "Out of This World" (thanks, ChatGPT, research assistant). I always wanted her power.

Anyway, the next best thing to being able to magically stop time may be some saké. If you've never tried it, saké is a bit stronger than beer, but much less that something like whiskey. It has a slightly fruity taste and goes down gentle. It is fantastic. A great many foreigners who come to Japan fall in love with it and I'm no expection. @boxcarblue recently took a very cool tour of a saké factory—check it out.

Saké helps relax in the evening. If you ever have a chance to try some, I recommend it.

There are many kigo (season words) about saké. Most of them are for autumn or winter, though I do count one for spring and one for summer in this online saijiki (kigo encyclopedia). Plenty of sake was common at renga poetry gatherings, renga being the main poem that haiku was the first verse of, and it was a common topic for haiku. Still is.

I wrote this on Threads a handful of days ago, by the way. If you aren't there, please join us! Read this post for details.

❦

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.